AndroidPolice has posted renders that it says are based on a split-screen multitasking mode that Google has been experimenting with for Android. It’s a feature Samsung has implemented into its own version of Android and used as a selling point in marketing over the competition. It’s also something that Apple is experimenting with for iPad.

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…users can have two open apps at a time. From the recents menu, users could swipe recent entries to either side of the display, “snapping” them to that half of the screen, leaving the other half of the screen occupied by the home screen or recents menu… The home screen on the other side would still behave normally – giving access to notifications and Google Now, or the option to slide another recents entry into a full app, or open another app on that side of the screen from the app list.

Users would also be able to drag and drop between windows while using the split-screen mode, according to the report.

There’s no word on whether or not this will be something Google ultimately tries to build into a future release of Android. The report does point out that evidence suggests the split-screen mode would be built into the operating system system wide rather than relying on apps to implement the feature.

About the Author

Jordan writes about all things Apple as Senior Editor of 9to5Mac, & contributes to 9to5Google, 9to5Toys, & Electrek.co. He also co-authors 9to5Mac’s weekly Logic Pros series and makes music as one half of Toronto-based Makamachine.